Bottle closure



was I April 1, 1952 F. DWORACEK 2,590,949

BOTTLE CLOSURE Filed mg. 9, 1950 gZ/Z pWomwe/C Patented Apr. 1, 1952 UNITED STATES PATENT QFEECE BOTTLE CLOSURE Felix Dwora'cek, New York, N. Y.

ApplicationAugust 9, 1950, Serial No. 17 8,395

z Glaims. 1

This invention has reference to' closures-of the type employed on bottles and similar" containers primarily for the purpose of preventing refilling of the bottle.

One of the objects of the invention is to provide a closure of this character of simple construction and of few easily-fabricated parts and. which can be attachedito' the top of a bottle of conventional shape and form without requiring constructional modifications in the bottle;

Still another object of the invention is to provide a closure which can be wholly made of plastic material; which. will prevent" refilling of the bottle by liquid under" pressure and which will permit easy and smooth pouring of the bottle contents.

More particularly, the invention contemplates the provision of a housing, for permanent fitment upon the outlet end of a bottle, which housing contains a seat provided with a cylindrical part or sleeve and over which a movable cupshaped apertured' valve is fitted. Said valve is movable by pressure of bottle contents when the bottle is inverted, to a position to cause its'apertures to establish communication between the interior of the bottle and outlet openings in the housing and permit outpouring of theliquid contents of the bottle. The valve is arranged to seat itself in closed position when the bottle is restored to an upright position and to resist efforts to force liquid into the bottle through outlet openings provided in the housing.

In the accompanying drawing, wherein an illustrative embodiment of the invention is disclosed, Fig. 1v is a vertical sectional view" through a bottle closure constructed in accordance with the invention and applied to a bottle top; Fig. 2 is a sectional view taken on the line 2-2 ofFig. 1, looking in the direction of the arrows: Fig. 3 is a side elevation of the valve member of the bottle closure; Fig; 4 is a side elevation of" the valve seat; Fig. 5 is a sectional view taken' on the line 5-5 of Fig. l',,looking' in the direction of'the per end' portion or neck of a bottle of" conven-- tional form, such as might be employed for'con tainingliquors, perfumes or other liquids a por-' tion of the liquid contents of the bottle being in dicated at'2. The neck of the bottle, inthe form 2 shown, is provided with threads 3, such threads: being usually employed for the reception" of a bottle closure or cap of known kind.- In the: present instance, these threads receivecomplementary threads formed on the inside of the bottle closure housing or. enclosure indicated generally at 5. When the housing or enclosure is threadably placed on the bottle top, it may be permanently secured thereon by cement, or some other means may be employed, by which the housing is fixedly attached to the top of the-bot-- tle in' a permanent manner to-prevent its'removal except by actually breaking the bottle.

The housing or enclosure 5 is providedwith a closed top 6 formed with two clusters of holes or pouring outlets "I through either of which the contents of the bottle maybe dispensed. The: housing is also provided adjacent to its top-with external screw threads 8 to receive the internal threads on a closure cap '9 which is readily removable for dispensing of the bottle contents and is employed primarily to protect the bottle contents during shipping, handling or storing of the bottle. Instead of the use of a thread-on closure cap, any other suitable and easily-r'emovable closure may be provided to close the-- vided with a radially-extending annular flange l2 which is clamped between an annular shoul-- der [3 formed on the inside of the housing or enclosure 5, and a gasket 4 seated on the top edge of the bottle I surrounding its mouth; The

flange I2 is thus clampingly held on top of the bottle by being interposed between the top edge of the same and the shoulder l3 and the seat is thus fixedly maintained in place in the bottle with its cylindrical part or sleeve l2 axially" aligned with the bottle and forming acontinua tion of the bottle outlet.

The valve for the bottle closure is shown-at i4, and the same includes an inverted cup- [5 provided at its open lower end with a radially'and laterally extended flange l1 and a closed upper end shown at 18'. Arising from the closed upper end I8 is a cylindrical member or annular walll9 which constitutes a stop member for limiting. the opening movement of the-valve in a manner: to be hereinafter described. Said cylindrical member or annular Wall I9 is of less diameter than the diameter of the cup l5 and as airesult;

an annular shoulder 20 is formed at the base of the wall l9.

Formed in the vertical side wall of the cup I is a plurality of openings [6. Two of said openings are shown but this number can be increased if found necessary. The openings I6 are of such size and so located that when the valve is in its closed or seated position, these openings are closed or shut off by the upstanding or vertical Wall of the sleeve 1 l of the valve seat [0.

The flange I! provided on the valve Iii closely fits within the housing or enclosure 5, but permits the valve to easily slide vertically within the housing in one direction to open position under the pressure of the liquid contents of the bottle during the pouring operation, and to fall back by gravity into closed position when the bottle is placed in its upright position after pouring. The cup l5 fits snugly about the sleeve l I but the cup is freely slidable on said cylinder to permit the sliding movements of the valve as above described for the purposes just mentioned.

The bottle closure is readily placed on the top of an open bottle of conventional type by being threaded and cemented or otherwise permanently secured thereon. The normal position of the parts of the closure is that shown in Fig. 1 at which time the bottle is in its upright position or is resting upon a support. At this time, the valve I4 is in closed position or one in which its flange I1 is resting upon the flange I2 of the seat [0. It will be noted that at this time, the openings IS in the valve are closed by the wall of the sleeve II) which is then located within the cup l4 and forms a barrier between the contents of the bottle and the chamber 2| on the inside of the housing between the top of the valve and the under side of the housing top 6.

When it is desired to pour out some of the bottle contents, the bottle is tilted, as shown for example in Fig. 6, whereupon the pressure of the liquid contents of the bottle against the underside of the closed end wall l8 of the valve I4 will force the valve open or in a direction toward the top wall 6 of the housing 5. Movement of the valve M in this direction is limited by the upper end of the wall l9 coming into contact with the end wall 6 of the housing, and when the valve is thus halted, it will be halted in a position at which its openings l6 have either completely or to a great extent, moved beyond the end of sleeve H and these openings will then establish communication between the chamber 2| and the interior of the bottle, permitting the liquid to follow the course of the arrows shown in Fig. 6 and enter the chamber 2| and flow out of the same through one or the other of the clusters of outlet openings 1. By the arrangement of the outlet openings I in two diametrically-opposite groups, an even pouring of the bottle contents is secured, and in addition the arrangement of these openings also tends to prevent spilling when the bottle topples over and assumes a position with the outlet openings in horizontal alignment.

When the bottle is restored to its vertical position, the valve M will return to its closed position by gravity, and which might be aided by a relatively weak spring if necessary, to close the valve. Any attempt to force liquid into the bottle by the use of pressure will fail, since the liquid so forced into the bottle through the holes 1 will contact the relatively large horizontal surfaces provided by the closed end [8 of the valve, the shoulder 20, and the flange I! to say nothing of the inner and outer surfaces of the wall l9 and the outer surfaces of the cup I5 and the pressure exerted against these surfaces will tend to firmly seat the valve rather than open it.

The bottle closure is so constructed that only a single movable part, namely, the valve I4, is employed, and this and various other parts of the device may be readily made from various materials such as non-corrosive metals, plastics of various kinds, or other materials of suitable nature, and the entire device is readily applicable to bottles of various known forms on the market without requiring any alterations to such bottles.

Having described one embodiment of the invention, it is obvious that the same is not to be restricted thereto, but is broad enough to cover all structures coming within the scope of the annexed claims.

What I claim is:

1. A bottle closure comprising, a seat fixedly mounted on the top edge of a bottle, an enclosure secured to the bottle and retaining the seat against the top of the bottle, the seat consisting of a central cylindrical sleeve in axial alignment with the mouth of the bottle and having a radial flange resting against the bottle top, a valve member of cup-shaped form slidably fitted over and located wholly on the outside of the cylindrical sleeve, said valve member having an apertured side wall and a closed top, said closed top serving to close the upper end of the sleeve when the valve member is in its closed position, the valve member having an outwardly-extended radial flange on its lower end closely approximating the internal diameter of the enclosure, said flange closely, but slidably, fitting the enclosure and adapted to rest on the radial flange of the seat when the valve member is in closed position, the valve member having a sliding movement on the sleeve in a direction away from the seat when the bottle is tilted, to bring the apertures in the valve member beyond one end of the sleeve, and the enclosure having diametrically spaced outlet openings from which the contents of the bottle are poured when the bottle is tilted, with one of said openings constituting an air vent when the bottle contents pour from the other opening.

2. A bottle closure as provided for in claim 1, wherein the valve member is provided above the closed top with an extended cylindrical portion of less diameter than said closed top to thereby provide an annular shoulder around it, said cylindrical portion acting as a stop by abutment against the inner face of the top of the enclosure, the apertures in said enclosure being located in the said top of the enclosure and being disposed to one side of the cylindrical extended portion of the valve member.

3. A bottle closure comprising, a bottle having a threaded neck, an enclosure having an internal thread received on said threaded neck, said enclosure having an internal annular shoulder, a seat having aradial flange fixedly maintained against the top of the bottle by being held thereagainst by the said shoulder, said seat including a, central cylindrical sleeve in axial alignment with the mouth of the bottle, a valve member of cup-shaped form slidably fitted over and located wholly on the outside of the cylindrical sleeve, said valve member having apertures in its side wall and being closed at the top, said closed top serving to close the upper end of the sleeve when the valve member is in its closed position, the valve member having on outwardly-extended radial flange on its lower end closely approximatin the internal diameter of the enclosure, said flange closely, but slidably fitting the enclosure and adapted to rest on the radial flange of the seat when the valve member is in closed position, the

member being provided above its closed top with an open-top cylindrical extension of less diamem ter than said closed top to thereby provide an annular shoulder on the closed top around the cylindrical extension, said cylindrical extension acting as a stop by abutment against the inner face of the top of the enclosure, said top of the enclosure being provided with two spaced diametricallyopposite clusters of small pouring openings from ..which the contents of the bottle are poured when 6 the bottle is tilted, one of said clusters constituting an air vent when the bottle contents pour from the other cluster.

FELIX DWORACEK.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 683,989 Roos Oct. 8, 1901 910,093 Standard Jan. 19, 1909 1,040,848 Becker Oct. 8, 1912 2,029,896 Rosenbloom et al. Feb. 4, 1936 2,078,251 Jesnig Apr. 27, 1937 2,095,868 Herbert Oct. 12, 1937 

